Hogs to save Knight for later in tournament
FAYETTEVILLE - For the first time this baseball season, Blaine Knight won’t pitch Arkansas’ opener in a SEC series setting.
For Arkansas’ SEC Tournament opener Wednesday night in Hoover, Ala., against Tuesday’s play-in winner between South Carolina and Missouri, the nationally No. 8 Razorbacks (37-17) will start either lefthander Kacey Murphy or right-hander Isaiah Campbell, and save Knight (9-0) for Game Two or Three of the double-elimination tournament, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn explained by phone in Hoover.
Knight threw six complete innings beating Georgia 8-6 starting Arkansas’ final regular-season SEC series last Thursday in Athens, Ga.
A long rain delay finished Murphy after four innings starting Friday’s 8-7 loss in 10 innings.
Campbell, scratched from his Saturday start because of a foot injury, felt well enough by game time to pitch an efficient final three scoreless in relief of a 3-2 loss.
“We won’t throw Blaine Knight first,” Van
Horn said. “That’s Wednesday from last
Thursday. Blaine will either throw Thursday or Friday depending on how it goes Wednesday. Murphy only threw 75 pitches and Campbell threw like 50 and his foot is healing up good. So it will be Murphy or Campbell and see who we play.”
Van Horn liked what he saw against Georgia from freshman Cole Ramage starting in Campbell’s place.
“He threw really well for three innings,” Van Horn said. “So maybe we’ve got another pitcher with Ramage that can really help us.”
The revolving first base door that started briefly with good hit-but no field trying to convert from pitcher-outfielder to first baseman Evan Lee, then to various lengthier periods to Jared Gates, Jordan McFarland and Hunter Wilson seems to have swung back to Gates, a left-handed hitting senior with a .198 average, but a much better past.
“I’m going to go with Gates,” Van Horn said. “I just feel like he’s a senior and this is his last hurrah at the college level. He hasn’t had the year that he expected or we expected, but I think we’ve got to have somebody step up there offensively and I think Gates is the guy. Whether it’s a left or right-handed pitcher, we expect him to play good defense and drive in some runs down at the end of the order.”
Junior shortstop Jax Biggers, out since breaking his finger in the first inning of the May 11 SEC victory over Texas A&M, seems closer to active duty, Van Horn said.
“Jax Biggers in the next day or two will finally start taking some ground balls and swinging the bat,” Van Horn said. “There’s a chance he could play Wednesday maybe Thursday. We are actually starting to heal up.”
Catcher Grant Koch, removed from the final game against Texas A&M because of a sprained ankle that initially appeared severe, pinch hit and stayed in Thursday’s game against Georgia, then started the next two.
“Koch’s ankle is getting better daily,” Van Horn said. “He actually swung the bat really well in Athens. Maybe as good as he’s swung it all year.”